The Irish standard., 1887-04-02
SuiI- Dhuv,
THE COIN-ER.
BY GERALD GRIFFIN {,
Author of ''The Collegians." etc.

BY GERALD GRIFFIN,
Author of 1.-THE Collegians." etc.
CHAPTER XI.-(Continued.)
Mrs. Byrne could not "tell what to
make of all this. She could not form
a conception of any i'll affection of the
frame which was unconnected with a
positive disease-and though grief
might possibly affect young girl little
in the manner of Lilly's complaint, it
could not possibly be grief, for Lilly
cried great deal less than she did her
self. Her father seemed by his silence
to understand the matter better-but,
as he saw no remedy, he did not think
there was any use in contesting the
point-and held his peace therefore.
when Mrs. Byrne, arguing from the hot
and dry skin of the patient, pronounced
a sentence of typhus fever 1.-THE plague
of Ireland.) Strange to say, neverthe-
less, although Mrs. Byrne was wrong
in her premises, she was right in her
conclusion, and her dlagnostic was con-
frmed by the physician of the neighbor-
ing village.
The old man was now really terrified.
He loved-he doated on his daughter,
and the actual conviction of her dan
ger burst upon him with The infiu-
ence of sudden and deep misfortune.
He would have given the whole farm.
live stock and all, to hear that the doc
tor was wrong land ''sure" that would
be no such miracle neither;) but the
doctor in this instance was right-a ty-
plus fever he pronounced the COM
plant, and typhus fever poor Lilly
had-a fever that wasted and Slapped
her brain, and brought her to the very
gates of freedom. AS the illness pro-
ceeded, and the DOCTORS face heightened
in sympathy with his bill, the old mans
agony became absolutely phrenetic-he
usurped the mothers place and the
mothers offices by the bedside of the
sufferer-mixed the saline draughts, adj
ministered the medicine with his own
hands, and spent long nights in Sleep
less anxiety by her couch.
cpl tell you what'll come of it," the
servants said to one another in the
kitchen, 'tthe poor darlen'll die-Lord
save her--an' himself IL befitto be tied,
with lightness, afther-that'n be the
way of it,
But, like the good people of Islington,
the rogues were out in their prognostic,
for Lilly recovered of the fever-her
robust father it was that died. We
might be censured in these enlightened
times if we asserted that he took the
fever from his nurseling; but it made
little matter to poor Byrne whether the
disease was contagious or motor the
fever he took, wherever he got it-and
he died of it, too-died after extorting-
move do him and his daughter griev-
Gus wrong by using the word-after OBJ
tanning from Lilly readily accorded
promise that she would never receive
Kumba again into her presence until he
had gained place for himself in the
estimation of those whose esteem Was
worth his seeking, and until her mother
should withdraw the interdict which he
left upon his visit.
The reader may imagine what he
pleases of the force of passion, and of
female 6ckleness, and fe, bleness, and a
great many other easily -mouthed
phrases, which are more fashionable,
we suspect, in certain romances, than
in human nature: but we can assure
him that there are girls in the world
upon whose perseverance and resolu-
ton reliance might be placed as Sc
cure as that which one would rep0se on
the firmness of Nina or Bolivar-in
situations for more trying than any
which those rude, rocky-hearted fell
lows could be tempted with-a resolu-
ton, too. a great deal more noble in its
motive than theirs; for those gentle
creatures do from duty, and even in
violence to their natures. what a great
rough man will do from pride. and the
impulse of a ferocious and passionate
temperament. While the one breasts
the shock as sulkily as rocky headland
in tempest, the other yields and re-
coils alternately, blending the grace of
submission with the dignity of self.as-
sertion, like willow in swiftly glid-
ing stream, seeming to droop and suffer
itself to be hurried away by thu torrent
that has entrapped it's boughs, while it
clings with an easy determination to
the bank where it has taken root.
Lilly Byrne was just such girl as we
have described. Feeble in heart and
frame as the feeblest of her sex, her
conduct showed as if the energy which
had been stolen by long suffering
from the latter had been all transferred
to her mind, and erected there into a
tower Of strength, against which all
tho occn1te Of foa1inr ard Sti11 s,1rvivinu